Natural Causes
by theAbderian
Summary: Belle was just the normal college student studying botany at a camp when walkers attacked. Suddenly she finds herself with the Atlanta survivors and meeting a certain Georgian redneck who sends her off the walls. What's a girl to do?
1. First Day

_Hello, thank you for reading (: I couldn't help but start this story even though I have Feel Again as well. Things were getting dark when I was writing Adelaide's feelings so I wanted to create something with a character whose almost the opposite of Adelaide._

_I hope you enjoy! Thanks again for reading!_

* * *

She was so tired of running.

The weight of her legs seemed to just increase with every step she took. Her stamina was running low – fast – and if she took one wrong step now, she might as well be dead. Her breath was staggering and she wheezed her way through the woods, knowing that that monster was tailing her every turn.

She couldn't understand what had happened. Just the day before she'd been happily learning about the flora of the world and planting saplings, and now here she was running from a flesh-eating zombie. That's what they were right? Zombies? She didn't know. She couldn't think right now. Her first priority was to _run_.

But life has a way of slapping you in the face just when you think it settled into a comfortable cycle.

A tree decided to grow right where the tip of Belle's boot thought it'd be smart to step. She slipped on the root and fell, face-first, into the damp soil of the forest.

As quickly as possible, she tried to stand and run again but a cold hand grabbed the loose bun her hair was pulled up into and yanked her back. Something metal dropped on the ground but Belle didn't notice it as she struggled to keep that snarling mouth away from her flesh.

In her struggle she slipped again, bringing the monstrosity down with her, still tangling with it and trying to get away. In the midst of their power play, Belle's hand found a thin metal chopstick – one of the two she'd put in her hair to make a bun the morning before. She grasped it tightly and slammed it into the red eye of the zombie-like being under her.

She scooted back away from it and leaned on the base of a tree trunk staring bewildered at the half rotten corpse lying lifeless before her. She then looked at the slim metal piece in her hand; half of it covered in goo, and made a face of disgust but thanked it for being there for her.

Belle laid it down at her side for a moment to take out the other matching pair in her hair and redo the loose bun, trying to get as much hair out of her face as possible. It was kind of difficult with bangs but she did her best.

Feeling satisfied, she gripped the metal of her chopstick and began walking in the direction she was previously running. She felt safer now that the walker that had been chasing her was down. She was lucky it had only been one.

The day before she had been at a camp sponsored by her college. It was a camp focused on botanical studies and something that Belle had looked forward to since her admission to college. She was only a freshman with a major in botany. It was a strange choice but something about plants made her feel satisfied; she could spend hours in her home garden just sitting and relaxing or cultivating new plants. Her parents didn't mind, they always told her it was nice to have a little garden of fresh fruits and veggies – it saved them a trip to the farmer's market.

_We love our little green thumb!_ She could just hear them in unison praising her interests. They always supported her…

It was only the first day at the camp when a couple of strange people walked onto the campgrounds and began attacking. There were only a few of them… and then a dozen. No body knew where they came from, but when they arrived it was chaos. People had barely had enough time for introductions to each other that day, so it turned into an 'every man for himself' type of situation. No one helped each other; they just ran for their lives.

Belle made it out of the camp but she bypassed one of those monsters a little too close and it began chasing her. And now here she was, metal hair accessory in hand and tired as hell.

She walked aimlessly forward, making sure not to take turns or wander off; she didn't want to walk in circles. But it wasn't easy. Her legs had already begun to feel heavy while was running, and with each step it was like her feet had turned into dumbbells.

She must have been walking for hours when she saw a strange string of tin cans lining an area of the forest.

"What is this doing here?" She tapped the string; it made a light jingling sound from all the cans clanking together. Confused, she ducked underneath the string of cans and started walking forward again.

She'd only walked a few minutes past the string when she met the cock of a shotgun and barrel staring at her nose. She didn't know what to do, she just stopped and stared at the black metal at the tip of her nose and trailed up the barrel to find a tan man with a serious five-o-clock.

He glared at her with intense eyes, "Who are you?"

An elder Caucasian man approached from behind, he had a tacky hat and sported a rifle but didn't point it at her.

"Belle," she managed to get out. Her words were shaky, she wasn't used to a gun being pointed at her head. Her hands were raised, the metal chopstick still loosely held onto by her fingers.

"She's just a young girl, Shane," the elder man said. "She's no harm to us."

This 'Shane' took a few seconds to think but didn't lower his weapon. He eyed the metal chopstick in her hand and recognized the color of walker blood on it. "Give me that metal piece," he demanded.

She looked at the chopstick, of course it looked like a weapon to them – to her it was – so she relinquished it to his upturned palm. He lowered his shotgun and ushered her forward with his head. When she got in front of him, the other man put an arm around her shoulders and walked with her.

The trees cleared out to a quarry filled with tents and an RV. There were less than two-dozen of people flitting about doing things like laundry and prepping food. It was like a little community of people… How did this pop up so fast?

"How?" She could only make out at first but she cleared her throat again. "How is this here so fast?"

The Caucasian man looked at her a little shocked, "Well the break out was at least a week ago… We all met on the high way a little way off from here."

A week ago?

"That thing they were talking about on the news?" She questioned. "I thought… I thought it was like all those times talking about a new flu and everything. I didn't think… it was so scary." She remembered the faces of those rotting corpses walking around and eating others.

"We've only just started up," Shane said walking up from behind. "Where'd you come from?"

She turned to face him, "I was at a camp with a group of college students… It's probably miles away from here. I don't even… I don't even know how long I was running."

He looked at her with concern, "Was there one of those things behind you?" It could compromise everything here, and the safety of Lori and Carl was all Shane could think about right now.

"I got… in the eye," she winced as she admitted her kill. "With that." She motioned to the metal object in Shane's hand.

He examined the piece, it was wider on one side and thinned out to the other, it was basically a flat piece of metal with carved decorations on the wider side. Although half of it was covered in eyeball guts, it was a spectacular piece of stainless steel.

"I'm Shane," he finally properly introduced. "This is Dale." He handed her back the metal piece.

Dale smiled at her, his face was friendly and comforting like a father. "Come," he motioned her to follow him, "Let's introduce you to the group."

He first took her to meet Lori and Carl, a mother and son pair, and Amy and Andrea, a sister pair. Lori was friendly while Carl was shyer towards Belle. Amy and Andrea were bright and greeted her with smiles. Then he introduced her to Morales and family, Jacqui, T-Dog, and Jim. They were all decent people, none to menacing. But the Peletier family irked Belle; Carol and Sophia were such kind people while Ed Peletier screamed negativity.

Dale introduced her lastly to Glenn, a Korean boy about her age, most likely a little older than her. He made a lasting impression on her.

"I'm Glenn," he smiled at her, holding out a hand to shake. With her free hand, Belle shook his and smiled right back.

"Belle," she replied. "It's a pleasure."

Dale noticed the good chemistry between the two. "You two will get along just great," Dale commented. "I feel it in my bones." He put a little joking tone into the last words.

Glenn and Belle laughed at him.

"Well, we need to get you situated here," Dale started and looked around. "But the tents here… they were brought by each family. I don't know where you're going to be staying." He already had Amy and Andrea in the RV with him and there weren't any spare tents to set up.

"I've got space," Glenn offered. Dale eyed him up and Glen gave him a shocked look. "I wouldn't! I swear!"

"I'm sure Glenn's the perfect gentleman," Belle defended. "But I don't think I should stay here, my parents are in Atlanta to visit me. I'm sure I can get to their hotel and…" She trailed off after watching both men's faces slowly fall. "What? What's… What's wrong?" She was scared to ask after watching them make grim faces.

"Atlanta…" Glenn tried to start.

"Atlanta's not safe," Shane came up behind Glenn and Dale. "We watched as the military… took the city out."

"Took… took the city out?" She asked quietly. "What do you mean took the city out? My parents were supposed to arrive there this morning… I mean they should be safe right?" She grabbed Dale's arm desperately, hoping he'd tell something good.

Dale shook his head at her, "We haven't seen any planes for days."

'They could be safe at home,' she thought. "Yeah, they could be at home… It should be safe there," she sighed and closed her eyes. Belle didn't want to think about anything negative about them; they had to be safe.

"You can just camp with me," Glenn offered again. "I'm pretty clean, and there's enough space for the both of us."

Belle smiled at him, "You're very kind, Glenn. Thanks for letting me invade." Glenn laughed and just nodded while pulling her in the direction of a tent. "I'll talk to you later Dale? Shane?" The two older men just waved her off.

"So you got anything with you? There's lot of space here," Glenn opened the flap of the tent and let her in.

Glenn didn't lie; there was actually a lot of space in the tent for the both of them, and maybe two more. He actually kept to one side of the tent already, not really spread out. There was one sleeping bag and a pile of guy's clothes in the corner.

"I, uh, I didn't really get to pack when they came," she admitted. What she had on now what all that she owned. Just her jean shorts, white loose tank, and brown combat boots.

"Oh," was all Glenn could say. "We need to fix that."

She laughed a little, "And how exactly are you going to fix that? All you've got are guy shirts and stuff."

"I was thinking about doing a run into the city to gather supplies, but I haven't asked Shane yet. It could be a good idea, you know, there's only so much we have here," Glenn said as he tossed a few stray items to his side. "I need to get you a sleeping bag too."

She looked at the floor of the tent, she was already on all fours to keep from hitting the top of tent so she pawed the ground on her side and found that it was actually pretty soft. "I think there's wood chips or something here, it'll be comfortable enough," she smiled at Glenn. "But if I could borrow a blanket or something, that'd be awesome."

Glenn nodded and then headed out to ask for a blanket and ask Shane about his idea. Left alone to her thoughts, Belle could only think about her parents in Kansas. It might be better over there… It had to be for her to survive because the thought of her parents gone rattled her.

Unable to take the stress of thinking about family, Belle exited the tent and walked over to Lori and Carl.

"Hi, Lori," Belle greeted.

"Belle right?" Lori asked and was met with a nod. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if I could help out with something," she glanced at Lori cleaning mushrooms. "Those are poisonous."

Lori stopped cleaning them and looked up at her with a little surprise. "Can you tell which ones are and aren't?"

"I've been studying all sort of plants and fungi since I found a book in the library on it in sixth grade," Belle took the chance to sit down on the same log as Lori. "I was actually at a botany-focused camp when it was… attacked."

Lori gave her a comforting smile, "Well by all means, I'd love if you'd be able to tell if what we gather is edible or not! I sure as heck can't. Usually, Shane can tell some of them, but not all."

Belle was glad to have something to keep her mind off things and began picking through Lori's small batch of mushrooms and cleaning them with her. "These can give you a mean stomach ache," she commented on one of the varieties in the bucket.

"Guess I'll save that for when Carl gives me some attitude," Lori joked.

"Hey!" Carl frowned while the two women laughed at him.

Shane, Glenn, and Dale stopped by Lori and Belle.

"Hey," Lori greeted the men. "Look! Belle's great at telling which are edible, and which are perfect punishment foods for Carl." She wriggled her nose at Carl.

Dale patted Belle's shoulder, "That's a big help, Belle. Thank you."

Glenn nodded, "Yeah, I'm glad I'm not getting anymore stomach aches!"

"We're entertaining the idea of a city run," Shane said, not acknowledging their topic. "Just Glenn and maybe a few others." He was talking to Lori, just Lori, and Belle was beginning to think they were married.

Lori gave Glenn a look before saying, "Are you sure that's necessary?"

"We're going to run out of supplies if we keep going at this rate," Shane grimaced. "We need this."

Lori sighed but gave in, "It's a risk… But we do need to get supplies before we start running on empty."

Belle looked at Glenn, "When are you going?"

"Tomorrow morning," Glenn replied. "It'll be really quick, in-out and nothing will notice we were there."

Belle had only met Glenn a couple hours ago but she felt concerned for him already. Lori seemed really apprehensive about entering the city and that made Belle worry about the city… If it wasn't that safe…

"Don't worry," Glenn patted her head because she was still sitting. "I'm good at being quick."

It didn't help much but she wasn't going to start telling him what to do. "Okay," she said.

That night she didn't sleep well even though her stomach was full and she was covered in a warm blanket. When things were silent like this all she could think about was her family and their safety. And finally when those thoughts were done with Belle couldn't help but start to worry about Glenn. He was such a sweet boy to her even though they'd just met. Thinking about not seeing him again made her uncomfortable. She wasn't ready to start losing friends.

* * *

Morning came and Belle woke up without even noticing that she'd fallen asleep in the middle of her thoughts. Glenn was already gone by the time she opened her eyes. She exited the tent to find Lori again.

"Want to go mushroom hunting?" Belle offered.

Lori smiled, "It'd be great if you could teach me a little." Lori called over to Dale to tell him we'd be heading out a little into the woods.

"Not too far, alright?" He was definitely the father figure here.

Lori grabbed the small bucket and headed into the woods with Belle. They only went about 50 yards before they started kneeling on the ground to pick for more mushrooms.

"I didn't imagine myself living off of mushrooms for the rest of my life," Belle laughed a little.

"Neither did I," Lori joined in.

"So," Belle tried to be smooth. "Are you and Shane married?"

Lori stopped picking mushrooms, and looked up at Belle. "No, my husband… he died. Shane has been taking good care of Carl and I." Her voice grew quiet.

"I'm sorry," Belle placed a hand on Lori's arm. "About your husband, I'm sorry."

Belle saw small tears forming in Lori's eyes but she quickly wiped them away, "Thank you."

With that they went back to their mushroom gathering. Some times Belle would mention and point which ones weren't edible and which ones to not touch at all. Other than small comments, there wasn't any more conversation; Belle didn't want to upset Lori again.

On their way back to camp, Lori noticed a small berry bush with red berries. She tapped Belle and asked her about it, "No, don't eat those. Usually I stay away from all the berries in the forest, unless you can recognize them like blackberries." She nodded and walked back to camp with Belle.

It passed maybe just an hour or so, not enough time for Belle to feel satisfied so she tried to get Lori to give her another job but she didn't have one. Slightly down, she went to Dale and asked him if he needed something done but he didn't either. Everyone at the camp was securing his or her own lifestyle but Belle didn't know what to do. She didn't have laundry to clean and wash or anything fix… It wasn't quite time to eat so there was no food prepping. Belle was unoccupied and a little anxious.

When she returned to the tent, she noticed her hair chopstick and that it was still half covered in zombie eyeball guts, now completely dried up on it. "Gross." She grabbed it and went outside to ask Lori if they had any water or something.

Lori gave her a small cup of water; "You might want to boil it for drinking."

"Thank you, Lori," they gave each other small smiles but went back to their own tasks.

Belle sat outside Glenn's tent and dribbled some water on top the metal chopstick and rubbed at it with an old rag she'd found on the side. It looked like it was used for cleaning something that was covered in black soot. Soon enough the metal was looking spick and span again. She even felt it was clean enough to be put back in her bun.

As soon as she finished cleaning, she saw a grey truck pull up to the quarry. Shane and Dale didn't seem to recognize the truck and she watched them wield their weapons as a precaution.

'People don't trust each other anymore,' Belle sadly thought.

Out of the bed of the truck jumped Glenn, gleaming with satisfaction and several bags hanging over him.

Shane narrowed his eyes at the Asian boy and motioned him away from the truck. Glenn looked a less joyous and walked over to Belle. She was happy he was back.

"Welcome back," Belle said. "Thanks for saying bye this morning."

Glenn laughed lightly, "Sorry about that, didn't want to wake you. You seemed to calm." He swung a rucksack off his shoulders, "This is for you, everything inside is all girly and all." He gave her a playful wink and dropped off a sleeping bag in the tent. "The rest is food and the necessities for the camp."

Belle gawked at him, "This is amazing! How'd you carry so much back?"

"Actually, I would have taken a couple more hours to get back if it weren't for those two," he motioned towards the truck and the two men that got out. "At first, I was kind of scared of them. But I think once they knew there was a place to stay with others they were nicer."

She looked at the two guys; one was older like late thirties to forties while the other was probably late twenties to early thirties. The older one was intimidating, and had a daunting smile as he talked to Shane. The younger one was very quiet; he let the older one do all the talking. Belle didn't notice but she had started staring at the younger one – he was attractive.

He had short brown hair and steel-blue eyes. His build was muscular and lean. The most noticeable thing about him, though, was the crossbow strapped across his back. It made Belle think that he was a hunter of sorts.

Suddenly he was staring back at her, scrutinizing and glaring at her for looking at him first.

She felt her cheeks burn under his gaze and turned her eyes elsewhere, landing on Glenn.

"What's wrong?" He asked. "Your cheeks are a bit red, are you sick?"

"Oh, no," she laughed nervously. She couldn't admit that a hot guy stared at her and made her blush now could she? "Must be the Georgian heat!"

Glenn agreed, "Yeah, man. The heat gets pretty intense over here."

Shane, Dale, and the two men were still going at it. "I think they're trying to reason their way into joining," Belle said softly. "Why doesn't Shane just let them in?"

"Well, he's got his reasons to be careful," Glenn recalled a memory. "There were a few times when a couple people attacked us for food. It's gotten pretty crazy out here."

Belle looked at the two men, "I'm sure if they're reasoning, then they're willing to contribute as a community… right?"

"Maybe, but you can never be too careful."

She just looked at the two men and couldn't help feeling curious about them – well more about the younger man. Some part of her wanted to get to know him better.

Belle didn't know then how much of a handle Dixons were.


	2. Unfortunate Events

_Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all have a great year's start (: Thank you Mariana Lestrange and svlpjes16 for the nice reviews! They made me a little more excited about writing._

_As always, thank you for reading!_

* * *

It didn't take so much as a couple hours for Glenn to regret catching a ride with the two rednecks.

The very night that Shane let them in the camp Merle Dixon was nearly out of control. It wasn't in a loudmouth sort of out of control but rather a perverted can't-keep-his-hands-to-himself way. He was all up in Andrea's business and gave Amy provocative gestures. He was downright disgusting.

Luckily for Belle, she'd been organizing herself and the items Glenn had snagged for her and stayed clear of Merle Dixon. She hadn't had so much as an introduction to either of the brothers and, from what she could hear from within the tent, she didn't want one.

Glenn had brought her two pairs of shorts, a black pair and a white pair to go along with her light blue denim ones she already donned; a few tank tops for the heated weather; and a cardigan for the chilly nights. Belle was already wearing a white tank top tucked into her blue shorts and a pair of brown combat boots. She didn't think that it was time for a change, after all resources were limited and clean laundry wasn't always available.

She spread out her sleeping bag and pushed the rucksack with clothes and other things in it to the side. Embarrassingly, Glenn had managed to grab some feminine necessities… Despite her disdain at the image of Glenn rummaging through the feminine isle Belle was extremely grateful.

It was nighttime and she could hear small chatter and see the low burn of campfires. The sounds and sights drew Belle out of her shared tent to find some company – and hopefully not Merle Dixon's.

"Hey, Belle," Glenn waved her over to a spot at a fire pit. She noticed that they were newly dug. When she pointed at the pits in question, Glenn explained, "Dug them this afternoon while you were with Lori and in the tent. Pretty sweet, huh?"

She leaned forward and put her hands closer to the embers, "It's toasty."

The small group with them chuckled a bit and followed her motions and warmed up their fingers. Atlanta's days may be sweltering but the nights were chilly.

Belle wrapped her cardigan closer to her body; the thick knit of the apparel squeezed her body warmth back into her skin. She looked at Glenn and mouthed a 'thank you' for the clothes. Glenn just gave her a side smile and nodded.

A pan of something was being passed around the fire pit and when it reached Belle she could only stare at it in wonder. "What's this?"

"That's squirrel, pretty lady," a deep hoarse southern voice spoke right up against her ear.

When hot breath touched her lobe, Belle cringed away in disgust. She knew all too well who it was that spoke behind her.

"First time seeing you around," he drawled as he sat across the fire pit from her. "Yer pretty easy on the eyes, aren't ya?" He winked at her suggestively.

Fighting the urge to gag she managed to flick him off.

"The name's Merle Dixon, angel face," he continued while only giving her vulgar hand sign a chuckle. "Best you remember it for tonight."

Belle passed the pan of squirrel to Glenn and stood up to leave the fire pit and get away from this crazed horny hick.

"Whoa, girl, not so fast. I'd like to eat some dinner before we get it on," Merle gave her another nauseating wink.

"Go fuck yourself," Belle spat, shocking the group at the fire pit. They already knew he was getting on her nerves but they never expected bright little Belle to start swearing.

As she spun around to go to the tent she found herself whipping herself right into a hard chest. It shocked her for a bit but she muttered, "Excuse me," and continued on her way without looking back.

Belle didn't notice that she'd walked into the younger brother of the crude Merle Dixon. She also didn't notice him watch her walk away with sharp eyes. It wasn't an attracted stare, neither a heated stare nor a curious one. He just vacantly watched her return to her tent in silence before snatching a piece of roasted squirrel from the pan Glenn was still holding and returned to his own tent.

Glenn passed the pan to Dale and walked back to the tent as well, barely noticing the group started lecturing and condemning Merle for his rude, uncalled for behavior. When he zipped the tent flap open and got in, he saw Belle's form neatly rolled up in her sleeping bag.

"You alright?" He asked sincerely as he re-zipped the flap closed.

Belle just grunted.

He sighed, "You sure?"

In a swift motion she was sitting upright and glaring at Glenn, "I hate guys like that. They're disgusting."

"Betcha you didn't notice the other Dixon staring at you walk away," Glenn just sing-songed.

"What?" She made a contorted face.

"You know," Glenn started slipping into his sleeping bag. "The one you were staring at this morning."

"St-Staring?" She almost shouted. In a hushed voice she retorted, "I was not staring." She flipped the sleeping bag flap over her head and curled up to retain heat.

"Yeah you were," Glenn sang at her again.

"Shut up, Glenn," Belle warned from underneath the sleeping bag.

"Or what?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Or I'm going to suffocate you in your sleep."

Her voice was deadpan and serious, so Glenn stopped speaking the moment the last word left her lips… Just for about a minute, he couldn't contain himself.

"Just in case your curious little mind is wondering, the guy you were **staring** at is Daryl Dixon," Glenn sang. "We all know you were-"

"Sleep tight, Glenn. Sleep tight." Her voice was foreboding and creepy. Glenn's words stopped immediately again but didn't start up like last time. Glenn had to be honest, the first phrase that ran through his head when he heard her voice like that was 'Oh, shit.'

'Oh, shit' was right. Glenn woke up the next morning with poison ivy on his butt.

Lesson learned? Don't mess with the botanist.

Belle woke up painstakingly early but not of her own accord. She couldn't sleep another wink unfortunately, even if she wanted to. She still took the opportunity to gather some _toxicodendron radicans_ just for her new Asian friend.

After successfully wrapping him in the itchy leaves and keeping her hands protected with plastic bags, she decided that maybe it'd be a good idea to go for a wake-up bath. She grabbed one of the towels that Glenn brought in the tent and a set of clothes that he'd gotten her.

The sun barely peaked out over the edges of the trees; it was exactly dawn. The water was icy to the touch but Belle just stripped and stepped in quickly. At first she just stood there in the water, shoulder-level, and waited to acclimate herself. Her body shivered for a few good minutes before becoming slightly numb to the chill. She scrubbed, barehanded, at her grimy skin and tried her best to rub the dirt from her hair.

The water felt refreshing against her skin by the time she was done. Her surroundings were still shadowed, the sun still not fully breaking into the sky quite yet, and it made her wary of her surroundings.

Walkers couldn't swim…. That was the theory.

Eyeing the surrounding woods, Belle swam back towards the shoreline and started reaching for the towel but when she heard rustling in the trees she grabbed her hair stick instead and pushed herself off a rock back into the middle of the lake. The sun was inching across the sky just a little more and just enough for her to make out a shadow moving from the woods towards the water.

Belle gripped the metal tighter with both hands and braced herself for an attack.

'_Please, please, please don't be able to swim_,' she chanted over and over in her head as it neared the edge of the sunlight.

She heard the scuff of a boot and then saw the rough face of the younger Dixon emerge from the woods.

Overwhelmed by relief she immediately relaxed her body upon sight of him. At least it wasn't a walker she reasoned in her head.

The moment he saw her lithe figure floating in the clear water he tensed up and stopped moving forward. Originally Daryl had though the splashing was a walker stuck or something and was investigating. A naked Belle in the lake was the least of his expectations.

"Nice rack," he said and slid his eyes down her form. The water was so clean he had a pretty sure look at what she looked like without anything on. For a man who'd gone so long with any action, this was a feast for his eyes.

Belle finally realized that she hadn't made it to that towel and that fresh water also meant _clear water_. Her face flushed as she covered her chest and crossed her legs, "Turn around!"

Daryl just followed the Dixon rules: Dixon's don't follow anyone's orders. He kept his eyes on her and watched her squirm under his gaze – he got a kick out of it.

"You bastard! Turn the hell around!" Belle screamed, trying to keep her hands covering chest while keeping herself afloat.

She watched him smirk and take another long look over her body before simply turning his head slightly to the side. Although she wasn't completely satisfied with his head position, she made a fast swim for the shore and wrapped the towel around her, even though it got soaked in the process.

Belle said nothing to him as she grabbed her clothes and ran off towards the tent in nothing but towel. Daryl didn't know who she was but he found it amusing how flustered she had gotten. He wouldn't mind getting to see that again.

Belle arrived at the tent in a flustered state, completely forgetting that she'd left Glenn in there with some poison ivy, and feasted her eyes on a Glenn in an itching frenzy. He was sitting upright trying not to scratch his butt.

"How… could you?" The way he said it made her almost forget that she was wrapped in a sopping wet towel and start laughing hysterically.

Glenn finally saw her physical situation and became nervous, "Uh… Belle? Why are you…"

She became very much alert as soon as she realized what he was talking about and threw her tank top from the day before at him, "Don't look, you bum!" She ran off to the woodsy area behind their tent and began throwing her clothes on – her underwear, a pair of white shorts and blush-pink tank top.

"Where are my boots?" Belle asked herself. When she thought about it, she realized she had left them on the shoreline in her rush. "Great."

Belle stomped back to the tent barefooted, her feet picking up the dirt around her. When she peered inside Glenn had disappeared. "Where...?" She started walking around to look for Glenn but didn't see him anywhere; it should have been easy to see because it was much too early for most of the camp members to be up and about.

She heard scuffling behind her and started theorizing what was going on here. When she noticed a small "hup!" sound she darted to her right and watched as Glenn went sailing past her into a heap of grass. She laughed and went over to help him up but quickly retracted her hand when he started scratching.

At first she started thinking maybe it was a little too much, but then she started laughing hysterically.

"Belle, you're so mean!" He cried in despair as the burning sensation kept growing.

She couldn't stop giggling at him but offered him some comfort, "Don't worry I made some ointment for the rash, plus it wasn't that much of an area!"

"How did you even get it… there?" He asked suspiciously. She wouldn't have used…

"A stick," she replied proudly. "Wasn't going to put my hands down your pants silly!"

She went into the tent and grabbed a little jar of a calamine-like lotion and anti-itch cream. She handed it to Glenn who snatched it out of her hands like nobody's business and ran off towards the lake.

Belle just giggled at his figure but then thought about it. "Maybe that was a little mean…" She thought about Glenn teasing her last night and all the regret vanished into thin air. "Nah, I can't believe he would joke about that. That guy is such a…. UGH." She shouted an incoherent sound at the thought of him scaling her up and down at the lake. "I hate him!"

"Ya hate who?" Hot air drifted over her right ear like it did when Merle Dixon spoke to her but this time Belle didn't feel disgusted. His gruff voice sent shivers down her spine as she recalled his cold eyes on her.

She spun around and shoved him away from her with two hands but he grabbed one of them with his. "Let me go," she sneered at him.

His eyebrows shifted up as he heard her tone, "Just doin' a little delivery, baby doll." He winked at her, and again unlike Merle's winks Daryl's made her blush. Daryl dangled her precious pair of brown boots in front of her and backed away.

Belle's eyes widened as she saw her babies in his calloused hands. "Give them back!" She hissed in frustration.

"What will ya give me for 'em, baby doll?" He teased. Daryl just enjoyed her angry face, it reminded him of their little lake fiasco.

"Stop calling me 'baby doll'!" She huffed as she tried to make a leap for her boots, but Daryl was a good 8 inches taller than her and his outstretched chiseled arms were way higher than Belle could ever reach. '_Wait… chiseled?_' She increased the narrowness of her eyes at him and tried to jump again but he kept backing up.

"Well, how 'bout ya tell me what ta call ya, baby doll." Gosh that southern voice was getting to her. The redness of her blush deepened when she thought about it.

Belle could hear people start shuffling around in their tents, getting ready for the day to come. She really didn't want to let people see her tousling with Daryl Dixon over her boots, but fate was never _that_ kind to Belle.

"Belle? What are you doing?" Lori asked as she exited her tent.

Belle turned her head to look at Lori and almost didn't catch her boots in her arms as Daryl shoved them at her while he walked past her. He gave her a side-glance and cockily said, "Got my answer, _Belle_." The way his voice rumbled as he said her name brightened her blush – geez, what was this effect he had on her?

She glared at his back as he walked away but started dusting off her feet to put into her boots.

"What was that all about?" Lori shot looks at Belle and Daryl back and forth.

Belle shook her head and grumbled, "I have no idea. He is SUCH an ass." '_A nice ass, and you know it_,' a little voice passed in her head. Belle rolled her eyes at the thought and tied tight bows at the top of each boot. "Anyway, what's on the plan for today?"

Lori gave her a skeptical look but shrugged it off, "Well, Carol and I were talking about setting up something to hand laundry on. It'd be a lot easier to do laundry if it could dry easy."

Belle nodded, "Sounds like a plan. We might need a lot though… considering how many people we have here."

"One for each tent?"

"Sounds about right," Belle agreed.

"Well we just need Carol and - … What in tarnation?" Lori stared with her mouth slightly open behind Belle.

Glenn was coming up from the lake with the best expression in the world as he scratched his butt. The second Belle saw this she was bursting in a fit of laughter.

"Glenn, you gotta stop scratching!" She managed to say when he got closer. "It'll never get better if you keep at it like that."

"I know! But," he sighed as he scratched it. "It's so itchy!"

"What is going on?" Lori shook her head in dismay as she stood there with the two.

"Belle put-" Glenn started.

"I taught Glenn never to mess with a woman again," Belle stuck her tongue out at Glenn.

Glenn stared at her with narrowed eyes but sighed and crawled back into their tent with care.

Lori was smiling at Belle when she turned back around to face her. "That's my girl," Lori laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Belle spent most of her day trying to figure out how to make a couple sticks stand together with Carol and Lori. They tried balancing it good hundred times before Carl pointed out that they might want to secure them together with string. After he told them that the ladies laughed at each other.

Belle enjoyed this moment because it was one of the few moments that Carol seemed to let go of herself and have a little fun – when Ed wasn't around. She could tell what was going on, a lot of people could, but there was never a moment where anyone could step in quite yet. It ate at Belle when she thought of Carol's situation, and poor Sophia who had to live through that. But what she could do right now was make the most of her time with Carol and try her best to put as many smiles on her face.

"Don't you ever get tired of spending time with us old folks," Lori joked at Belle while they tied two long branches together with some plastic string Dale had pulled out from his RV.

Belle just smiled, "I enjoy every minute of you 'old folks.'"

"What about Amy? She's your age and all," Carol commented absentmindedly, grabbing two branches that looked about the same height.

She hadn't really thought about it. Belle had just bonded with Lori faster than Andrea or Amy and then met Carol through Lori. If she had to say it, though, Glenn was her closest friend that she'd made in the past few days. But he was probably cursing her with some Korean superstition on the other side of the camp for this morning's events.

"I like you guys, that's all," Belle replied. "What? Are you trying to get rid of me?"

At first Carol got a little nervous that maybe she had gotten mad but when she saw Belle's playful expression she laughed. "We can't stand you!"

* * *

The days passed pretty uneventfully after Belle's incident with Daryl at the lake – about two weeks. Whenever she saw him she would duck behind something or someone; when she saw his brother she did a complete 180 degree turn and walked the other way; Belle kept the Dixons out of her life… for a while.

Something was bound to happen.

Glenn finally forgave Belle after a weeks worth of cold shoulders after his rash healed up – but he did slip up a couple times and talked to her before realizing what he was doing – and they were back onto normal joking terms. The rash was gone now but the whole camp knew what had happened after asking Glenn why he was scratching his butt all the time.

"Agh, you've ruined my perfect reputation, Belle," Glenn groaned while they were folding out their sleeping bags.

"What perfect reputation?" she snorted at the idea.

"My good Asian boy one," he made a fake reminiscing face and gesture. "Everyone thinks I bullied you into putting that stuff in my pants."

Belle just smiled evilly at him, "Well, now you know to shut up when I tell you to, hm?"

He scrunched his face at her, "Yes, ma'am." Glenn slid into his sleeping bag while Belle stood up and started opening the flap. "Where are you going?"

"To grab one of those water bottles," there were a few water bottles filled with pre-boiled water around the fire pit usually. "I'm a little thirsty."

Glenn casually waved her off as she left the tent.

It was chilly outside, but she left her cardigan inside the tent thinking it would only be a quick trip. Everyone was getting ready for the night in their respective tents so it was actually eerily quiet outside. Every step she took had a confirming crunch in the gravel and it sort of freaked Belle out.

When she found a bottle in an un-iced cooler by the fire pit she immediately started walking briskly back to the tent. The sound of a twig snapping made her stop for whatever reason. Normally she'd be screaming at the movie actor when they stopped to listen when something strange happened, but here she was doing what she always said she wouldn't be doing.

Shaking her shoulders quickly she started taking a step forward, clutching the bottle close to her chest, but something large and warm grabbed her waist and covered her mouth in swift succession. Whatever or whoever it was dragged Belle backwards into the cover of the trees while she struggled to get out of the grip. She threw the water bottle behind, hoping to hit the assailant, but to no avail. She then started thrashing her one free arm backwards to hit her attacker but no matter how many times she actually landed a hit they silently moved deeper and deeper into the woods.

Belle noticed that the stranger just pulled her under and away from the string of tin cans that Shane had strung up. Her eyes widened in fear; that line was like comfort to her, as this as it was she thought it kept the walkers away. Every step away from the line took made her increasingly anxious and frightened.

'_It's not one of those monsters_,' she thought in her head. It wouldn't have dragged her out here to make a meal of her. It's a _human_.

Finally they stopped moving and something coarse but fabric-like was shoved into her mouth and tied behind her head in place of the hand that had kept her muffled throughout the short journey. She thrown to the ground without her hands bound. She started crawling away as fast as she could but a hand roughly grabbed the back of her top, pulled her back, and flipped her over.

The face she saw made her cringe. Merle Dixon.

"Well, hello, angel face," he cooed. "Been a while ain't it?"

Her body froze in her awkward sitting position on the ground as she stared, wide-eyed, at the man.

"Now, I've been watchin' ya," he started walked circles around her. "Angel face, you are jus' so easy on the eyes."

Belle tried to shuffle away little by little but he would keep approaching her when he noticed her distancing herself.

"Now, now, where ya goin'?" Merle leaned real close to her to the point where she could the smell the mixture of booze and weed on his breathe. He stood up straight and smirked at her, "The fun ain't even started yet."

Then he unbuckled his belt.


	3. Finding Strength

_Somehow I always make bad things happen to my characters Well some development happens so... yay (: Thank you guys for reading, and I do so love any and all reviews that you guys leave me!_

* * *

"Get away from me!"

How badly she wanted to scream those words, but none would form behind the cloth that bound her mouth.

Belle scrambled in the damp earth toward the camp, kicking and scratching at the person who straddled her.

"Yeah, angel face," Merle Dixon cajoled. "Fight, fight!" He leaned closer to her face, "I like it better that way."

She cringed and looked away from him. If only she'd had her hair sticks, she'd love to drive the thin metal through his eyes right now. Oh, how badly she wanted to kill him as mocked her and threatened her. It was the first time Belle had ever had such dark thoughts – thoughts of killing a living, breathing human being – but she couldn't stop them from forming. Every atom that made her body hated this man, wanted to kill this man… _would_ kill this man.

When Merle started to slide his hand under her tank Belle's body reacted in fury. Her legs kicked and thrashed even harder as her muffled screams racked her body. Belle reached around her for anything and everything; she threw soil at Merle's eyes and tried to find anything she could use as a weapon.

"Damn bitch!" Merle struck her right across her left cheek with his enclosed fist. She would have a bruise on her face to accompany the many others Merle had delivered to her when she was struggling earlier. To Merle, if a woman didn't listen, you made her.

The world around her started to get woozy, the punch had disorientated her and suddenly the trees were moving and Merle Dixon had three heads. Groaning she tried to steady her head, unaware that Merle had ripped through her shirt and started to unbutton her pants. And then, whether it was self-preservation or not, the second that the sound of the zipper lowering snapped Belle back into focus and she reached farther than ever around her for something.

And she found it.

With a rock the size of two fists Belle smacked Merle Dixon on his head while he was too busy trying to take her pants off and he went down like a fly.

Finally being able to sit up, she pushed Merle off her legs and began clambering towards the camp again, there was no way she was going to check if he was alright – Belle even hoped with a great part of her that he was dead. But we all know that fate was never kind to Belle, in fact it seemed to be against her.

"Ya lil' cunt!" She heard not too far behind her.

Worried that he'd get too close her legs pounded even faster toward the camp. Relief began to wash over her when she reached the line of tin cans – she was that much closer to safety. She began ducking under the line when a strong hand grabbed her loose hair and began to drag her backward.

Scared out of her wits, she grabbed for anything to pull away from Merle. Unfortunately she only grabbed the unreliable line of tin cans and it ripped under the pressure of struggle and landed in a heap of rattles and clanks.

Merle began pulling her back into the woods by her waist but she used her free arms to pull the cloth free from her mouth.

"Help!" Belle screamed as loud as she could, but it came out softer than she would have liked. "Hel-"

Merle's gritty hand wrapped around her mouth, "Shut the fuck up, cunt."

Tears began to fall from her eyes, were things going to happen like this? Was there nothing she could do? She tried to thrash again but to no help, Merle was too much stronger than she was. He brought her back to the spot they were at before, not that Belle noticed, and went right back to his antics.

"Yer gonna be my little ho," his words were filth to her. The only things that came out were disgusting and vulgar.

"Like hell I will," Belle spat in his face. "Don't think this'll be easy for you, you shit!" She used her legs to knee him between the legs, but it wasn't close enough and she couldn't get where she was aiming. Still, it was pretty painful.

Merle winced and slapped her across her right cheek this time. "Then it'll be that much more painful fer you, bitch."

Belle wouldn't go down like that, she wouldn't forgive herself if she let herself give up so easily and just let him have his way. She braced herself for what she was about to do, "In your fucking dreams, asswipe!" With that she drew her head back and slammed it into her attacker's forehead. She hoped that the blow she delivered to him with the rock had done more damage to his head than his punch had to hers.

When Merle fell off of her to the side limply, Belle grabbed for the ground and she tried to crawl her way back to the camp. She moved slowly but steadily.

Belle felt like time was passing so leisurely like she wasn't moving fast enough. "He'll catch me," she breathed out. "Move, Belle, move!"

Without warning, a hand grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and she screamed. Throwing her hands around at the person who'd grabbed her, she desperately tried to escape.

"Let me go," her eyes were so full of tears that she couldn't see anymore. "Let me go!"

"Hey!" a deep, growling voice resounded in her ears. "Hey! Stop it!"

Her blurred eyes widened, "… Daryl…" The _other_ Dixon. Was he going to have at her like the other one? "No… No!" She pushed her arms forward to have him release her.

He grabbed her by both shoulders now and shook her roughly. "Stop that! I ain't gon' hurt you, girl," he wasn't kind as he spoke but it was sincere. That sincerity comforted Belle.

She stopped swinging her arms around and relaxed in his hands.

"What's going on?" Shane's voice sounded behind her.

"Shane," Belle whimpered out.

Belle was a wreck. Her clothes were a ripped mess, her pants were barely hanging onto her hips, and her face was all puffy and just primed for bruising. Shane looked at Daryl holding Belle roughly and raised the rifle in his arms at his head. "Daryl Dixon, you bottom-feeding son of a bitch," Shane started and flipped the safety off.

Realizing what Shane was insinuating, Belle grabbed Daryl's head in a flurry and held it close to her. "No, no!" the tears in her eyes didn't stop. "It wasn't him, it wasn't!"

Shane grabbed her under her arms and lifted her away from Daryl. Daryl stood up and stared at Belle, carefully taking in her physical state. Shane glared harshly at Daryl but put his faith in Belle's words. Daryl gave Shane a passing look and marched off back to the camp.

"What happened?" Shane asked as he pulled her by her upper arm towards the tents. "Heard the cans falling, so what happened out here?"

Belle could only try to calm her sniffles and tears, but no more words would come from her mouth. She just shook her head and let Shane lead her back. He glanced at her but didn't press her any further. Back by the tents, a few good people had come out to see what the can commotion was all about.

Lori was by her side immediately and grabbed her face between her hands, "Dear Lord, what happened?" She saw the discoloration of forming bruises on both of Belle's cheeks and her state of disorder. Something was definitely wrong.

"Lori," Belle whispered out and grabbed her friend around the torso. "Lori…" Tears started to form again as she cried in relief that she was in the safety of her friends.

"Oh, Belle," Lori wrapped her arms around Belle's head and looked at Glenn a couple of feet away. She mouthed words to him that she'd take Belle into her tent for the night. Glenn nodded but his face was full of concern. "Come here, Belle."

Belle didn't speak at all that night in their tent, but she slept quietly curled with Lori and Carl.

But the comfort was superficial; inside her head nightmares ripped at her and memories flooded her.

* * *

The morning didn't come fast enough for Belle. When she woke she was gasping for air and sweating bullets. Lori and Carl were sound asleep next to her, unaffected by the sounds Belle had made. She took her head in her hands and curled her legs up to her chest, hoping for some comfort.

Never again… Never again would she ever let her guard down like that. She would never look at life the same again. To Belle, people were no longer all humane. Some people shouldn't be alive.

As she mulled over these dark thoughts, horror overcame her. How could she think like this? Since when did she give up on humans? She shouldn't. She couldn't. Belle shook the thoughts out of her head and resolved that… perhaps bad things happen to good people, but she should never give up on anything or one.

Lori started to stir and began to sit up. "What's wrong, Belle?" She sleepily rubbed her eyes.

"Mm…" Belle just shook her head and smiled softly at Lori. "I'm alright…"

Lori looked unsurely at Belle but nodded at her. "Okay." And then she saw the state that Belle's clothes were in, "Oh, Belle… You can't go out like that."

Belle looked at herself and finally noticed. She pulled her ripped tank top back together, hoping that it would stick but without success, then she buttoned her shorts back up over her hips. The pure white of her shorts was stained by the dirt of the woods, ruined and tainted. Her fingers trembled at the sight of this – they were like her.

Seeing her tremble, Lori grasped her hands tightly and looked deeply into Belle's eyes. "Don't you worry anymore," she said with sureness. "You are safe here."

Belle's face contorted in many ways as she looked at Lori, "He… ruined me."

Lori's eyes grew wide as soon as she heard those words. "What?"

"He put his hands on me," Belle's breaths became short and ragged. "He… touched me!" Tears couldn't find their way to her eyes anymore but the dread that set in her face was enough for Lori to see how badly hurt she was.

Lori grabbed Belle's head and pressed it into her chest, "Stop that, stop that now. It's over. He will never touch you again!" She said it with such conviction that Belle believed it. Lori didn't ask Belle who this person was; she thought that it wasn't important if Belle was at the very least safe.

Belle hugged Lori back tightly and found comfort in the older woman's arms. "Thank you, Lori," she sighed.

Daryl Dixon stood outside the Grimes tent in silence. He knew, as soon as he got back to the tent with his brother, exactly what had happened. His brother had tried to get his hands on Belle, unsuccessfully from what he could tell from his brother's cursing. What he didn't know was why he was standing outside the tent listening to her cry to that uptight woman, Lori Grimes; or why he had gotten into a physical fight with his brother over this girl. He began to turn on his heel when Glenn came out of the tent and saw Daryl standing there. Glenn gave him a confused look while Daryl just walked back to the tent.

Glenn walked up to the tent and called out, "Belle?"

Peeking her head out she saw Glenn, "Glenn." Relief washed over her face just a bit.

"Here," Glenn handed her the beige cardigan. She took it with gratitude and wrapped it around her body before coming out of the tent completely. "Are you… alright?"

"I'll be okay," she murmured. "Don't worry."

He couldn't help himself from feeling concern but wanted to give her some privacy. "If you saw so. Come on, let's get you something to eat," Glenn began to lead her towards the RV where Dale was sure to have something but she gently pushed his arm away.

"If you don't mind," Belle began to head to their tent. "I'd like to get cleaned up." Glenn seceded without any complaint and let her be. Belle felt unclean like Merle's touch was grimy; she needed to feel clean again.

She headed to the lake like she did the day before with a new set of clothes; black denim shorts, olive loose tank top, and her usual brown leather boots. On her way down, Daryl pulled up and walked with her to the lake.

"Plan on spying on me again?" Belle tried to joke – tried to make herself look normal.

Daryl just looked at her with his sharp eyes and said, "I'm sorry." His eyes lingered on her cheeks; the bruises were quite evident now.

She gave him a sidelong glance but kept walking, "'Bout what?"

"I'm sorry 'bout my brother," he replied.

Belle stopped in her tracks and stared at Daryl. "What?" She shook her head, "Why do you…"

"Don't take much to know what happened," Daryl said, eyes cast down on her.

Belle swallowed tightly as she tried to keep their eye contact but couldn't for very long. She let her gaze slip in humiliation as she tried to steady herself. The thought that he knew what happened scared her – shamed her. Saying nothing Daryl gripped the tip of her chin and made her look up into his eyes again.

"You alright?" He asked earnestly, searching her eyes for something.

She couldn't give him what he was looking for, neither could she hide her feelings. For some reason, his eyes were like a lie detector and made her nervous. "No, I'm not," she breathed.

His lips tightened into a hard line when he heard her but he released her chin and turned around. "I'm sorry," he said one last time before heading off. She could only watch in confusion as he left; why was _he_ apologizing?

Trying to clear her mind of his actions she hurried to the lake and scrubbed her body quickly. She just dove in with what she had on and began to scrub with her fingers and palms until her skin shined a bright red. Although Daryl Dixon's words and actions were semi comforting for her, Belle could feel Merle's touches on her body still. So she scrubbed. She scrubbed until her skin felt numb to the touch and her senses – until she couldn't feel anything but the sting of cold water and air. Stepping out she stripped her of soaked and torn clothing before pulling on the spare apparel. She wrung the clothes out and brought it back to the camp with her in a bundle.

While passing a fire pit, Belle threw her damp clothes onto the black ashes of the previous night's fire. It would dry by nighttime and it would burn. She knew she never wanted to wear or touch those pieces of clothing ever again. She gave the bundle one last cold look before returning to her and Glenn's tent.

Glenn perked up as soon as she entered the tent, "Belle!" He looked at the redness of her skin and began to worry, "Your skin… it's-"

"Clean," she replied laconically. Belle smiled at Glenn, "How 'bout we go ask Dale about that food, hm?"

Glenn felt a bit of relief in her smile, even though he knew inside that it wasn't completely a true smile. "Yeah."

They walked together to Dale's RV and knocked before entering. Dale was inside cleaning some kind of vehicle part when he saw Belle and dropped what he was doing to stand and hug her. He didn't linger long and turned to lead her to the table in the RV and sit her down.

"You hungry?" Dale asked, as if reading their minds.

Glenn nodded energetically, "Mhm!"

Dale raised one eyebrow at Glenn, "Not for you, go out and do some chores Glenn."

Dropping his jaw in shock, "Hey! That's not f-"

Dale ushered Glenn out before he could finish his sentence, much to Glenn's dismay and horrid disappointment. He then grabbed a couple Nature Valley bars and handed them to Belle. "You must be starved, you didn't join us for breakfast." Dale looked at her with a soft smile, without pity or obvious concern. "I'm sorry this is all I've got…"

Belle took a bar gratefully, "No, thank you very much, Dale."

He put a hand on her shoulder with a firm constitution in his eyes, "I don't want to ask you anything you don't want to speak about… But I need you to know that you have people here that care about you. I care about you, Belle. Don't forget that."

Dale was so fatherly, Belle ended up musing over while he spoke. "Thank you, Dale," she closed her eyes and gripped the chewy bar tightly. "I know."

Dale could see that she'd resolved not to speak about whatever had happened the night before. He was at his RV's door that night when Shane had gone out to investigate the sound of the tin cans. He had been ready for a walker attack, not Belle coming out of the woods in shambles. And although Dale had a good idea of what went on that night, he daren't speak about it ever. Belle was a precious member, in the matter of few weeks she'd been in the camp; Dale wanted to protect that.

Belle spent the day and night in the protection of Dale's RV, she didn't want to go out and have the possibility of facing Merle Dixon. She wouldn't know what to do. So she stayed inside as much as possible… until she heard the sounds of yelling in the direction of the fires. She crept up to the RV door and saw Shane, Dale, and Glenn screaming Bloody Mary at Daryl.

Both parties were pointing fingers and sneering at each other, the very sight put a sickening feeling in Belle's stomach. She very well knew what this was all about. She heard her name a couple of times and then finally Dale's single shout made a clear ring above all other sounds.

"You need to leave!"

Dale didn't mean 'Oh, you need to go back to your tent and think about what you did, young man!' he meant 'You are leaving this camp, for good.' And everyone knew just what he had meant.

"No," Belle whispered to herself. But the men starting shoving Daryl back, forcing him back into a corner.

Daryl became angry and pushed the three men back as well, "Ya ain't the boss of me!"

Belle stepped out of the RV and toward the men, her feet moving without her brain. Neurologically speaking she was fine but even though her head told her to leave it be something inside made her approach them.

"Stop," the word came hoarse, but just enough for them to all hear her.

They all turned their heads to face her and stopped their incessant shouting. The raging fires in their eyes immediately dowsed.

"What are you bickering about?" Belle hissed. She hated seeing all the unrest within the camp stemming from her incident. It was apparent that the camp was turning on the Dixons, and Belle wouldn't have minded that if she hadn't met Daryl. Although she had a deep hatred for Merle, Daryl had been decent to her; in her eyes, Daryl was a person deserving of care.

"Belle, go back," Dale started walking towards her. "I'll go back with you but-"

"Then all of you go back!" She exclaimed, the roughness in her throat disappearing and anger replacing it. "You don't have the right to tell him to leave!" Shane, Dale, and Glenn were shocked. "Daryl has done nothing but provide for us, why are you pushing him out?"

Glenn became irked, "We're protecting you!"

"What's there to protect? I can do just fine!" She shouted, completely blinded by fury now.

"We all know," Glenn's voice softened. "You don't need to tell us, we understand. Merle did that! And if he could, then who's to say Daryl's not just another pea in the pod?" Glenn now shouted at her, waving a hand back at Daryl as he stepped forward to Belle.

At that statement Belle's fury escalated in an instant, "He's not the same! He's definitely not the same! Now you leave him be!" She shoved her hands against Glenn's chest, so mad that he had said those things about Daryl.

She was so full of anger… but she didn't know why. Maybe it was the time when he had found her in the woods and calmed her down? Or the time when he apologized even though he had nothing to do hurting her? It was probably the fact that Daryl exhibited care in unusually discrete ways, and acted as if any kind action of his had never occurred. There was just something about Daryl Dixon that made Belle care enough to get mad at someone who had nearly become her surrogate brother.

Glenn backed down after she pushed him and muttered a 'fine' before storming off to their tent. Dale and Shane following in a reluctant suit, leaving Belle alone with Daryl.

Behind her she heard incoherent griping. When she turned around Daryl's face was furious.

"I don't need no damn bitch to fight my fights!" His voice finally broke.

At first, Belle was surprised… and then mad. "I can say what I want to say! Who are you to control my mouth!" After she had gotten into an argument with her closest person on camp over some hick who didn't appreciate it… and she didn't even know what had compelled her to speak like that.

"Don't matter! Don't stick yer damn nose where it don't belong!" Daryl threw a string of squirrels he'd caught on the ground and turned on his heel.

Belle was left once again to watch his back disappear into the night, just utterly confused.

What had she done that was so wrong?


End file.
